A common question many people have relates to the perceived “expensive” cost of a home at Skyview Estate. Naturally, this is valid question and this article will shed light on why this is the case. There are several truly unique Papua New Guinean factors that have caused property prices to surge across the market. Prices of Houses in Port Moresby are higher compared to prices in other parts of the country. For the purpose of this article, we will discuss some of the reasons why houses at Skyview Estate may be slightly higher compared to other places.
1. Cost of titled land
About 97% or so of land in Papua New Guinea is traditionally owned land and only about 3% of that is titled State land. Thus, titled land is scarce or hard to come by and according to the ‘demand and supply’ rule, this scarcity pushes up the price of titled land. Now add that inflated price of land to the cost of building a house and there you have it. This is why the prices of houses are so high -the low supply of titled land that is pushing up prices so high.
2. Constructed houses vs. Prefab
There are many advantages of both constructed houses (houses built from scratch) and prefabricated houses (kit houses). Houses at Skyview are constructed houses, built with concrete and steel and the cost of building with these materials are higher compared to prefabricated houses. The advantages with building constructed houses with concrete and steel are that these materials are durable and over the long term, houses built with these materials require less maintenance and upkeep. If you’ve purchased your home through a home loan, factors like the durability of the materials used in building your house are important. Look at this way; you’d want to know that at completion of your loan repayment (whether it’s 15, 30 or 40 years from now) your house will still be in good shape.
3. High Cost of Building Materials
Another factor that adds to our houses being more ‘expensive’ is the high cost of building materials within the country. As much as possible, the building materials used for construction such as gravel, sand, steel, piping, etc are sourced within PNG; but the high cost of these building materials also has a final say in how much the end product will cost. With the current economic situation too over the past couple of years, suppliers have had to put up their prices to deal with the rising costs of their operational costs. Of course, these increased prices are passed on to GDL and then passed onto the final cost of houses. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an unimaginable strain on supply chains, increasing costs even further.
4. Amenities, Connected Utilities & Location
Developments or other additions can increase the price of houses. For example, houses and apartment complexes around the Port Moresby CBD area will sell for 50%+ more compared to a house for sale around the Waigani area. As the city of Port Moresby explodes at the seams, the city’s development is gradually moving into other places such as the 7 Mile – 8 Mile area. This as well, makes 7 Mile and 8 Mile areas as desirable to live at.
Other developments as well such as connection to essential utilities such as water, power, sewerage also add to the overall value of houses at Skyview Estate. Other developments such as concrete sealed roads, as well as carports and drainage system all add to the overall value of properties on sale at the estate.
– Important point –
At the end of the day, it is up to your personal preference as to what type of house you’d like to get. Over the past couple of years, the number of housing estates have grown that can cater to different preferences and budgets. The choice is up to you, as the home buyer.
Published: 24 August 2018 – Updated: 31 March 2021